1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable grinder for grinding grain-like condiments, such as pepper, salt, and berries, contained in a reservoir to which there is fitted a grinding device. The present invention also relates to a stator for the adjustable grinder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional grinding devices are composed of a stator and a rotor, at least one of which is provided with teeth to form a jaw.
In such a device, the rotor is driven rotationally by way of a drum forming the body of the device, fixed on the neck of the reservoir but able to rotate freely. In contrast, the stator is immobilized with respect to rotation relative thereto.
Mills for grinding condiments of this type are provided with means for adjusting the ground product, acting on the jaw spacing formed by the rotor and the stator by varying the axial position of the rotor relative to the stator. These latter components represent frustoconical bodies of revolution, albeit having different conicities, in such a way that the displacement of one relative to the other causes the spacing and consequently the adjustment to vary.
For example, known systems make this adjustment of the rotor relative to the stator by way of a screw system. However, in this case it is often not possible to provide marks for positioning the stator relative to the rotor, and so it is often not possible to identify the grinding fineness, which is selected according to taste and can vary from one consumer to another.
To remedy this shortcoming, different systems have already been proposed in order to achieve an adjustment of the ground product in graduations, such as described in International Patent Application No. WO 2004/037057, by making the rotor integral with an annulus furnished with pins intended to be positioned in openings of the body, the openings being furnished with notches corresponding to different sizes of the ground product.
Also according to this embodiment, the openings are inclined in such a way that the rotational movement of the annulus induces an axial translational movement of the rotor, modifying the distance between it and the stator that is complementary to it.
However, such a device typically does not permit continuous adjustment of the ground product because the rotor is integral with the adjusting element, which must be locked in the body to form the rotor of the mill.